Coronavirus: McLaren drivers Norris and Sainz take voluntary price cut a sF1 team to furlough staff

Formula One giants McLaren became the sport’s first team to place staff on furlough, with their drivers volunteering to take pay cuts themselves.

It is understood the rest of the grid – including Lewis Hamilton‘s Mercedes team and Ferrari – are looking into cost-saving measures of their own to get them through the grand prix shutdown.

McLaren are in the process of contacting members of the 850-strong F1 team to tell them they will be furloughed, while some core staff continue to work on reduced pay.

Their drivers, Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz, who earn about £600,000 and £2million respectively, are believed to have asked their bosses if they could take a lead by having their salaries trimmed. Top earners, such as chief executive Zak Brown, are also voluntarily taking a hit.

The furlough will start next week, to be reviewed at the end of May.

A statement confirmed: ‘The McLaren Group is temporarily furloughing a number of employees as part of wider cost-cutting measures due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on its business. These measures are focused on protecting jobs in the short-term to ensure our employees return to full-time work as the economy recovers.’ 

Other teams are now looking to follow the example set by McLaren, Britain’s most successful F1 organisation, to preserve their workforces for when racing restarts, supposedly in the summer.

It is understood that six-time world champion Hamilton is willing to forego a chunk of his £40m wage, though these discussions are at a preliminary stage. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who earns £35m a year, and Charles Leclerc, on £8m, are also in talks about reducing their earnings.

Formula One bosses, meanwhile, are planning to extend the mandated, sport-wide factory shutdown from the end of this month into next.